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“So — You’re Starting A Company: Essential Elements Of Business Planning” Seattle 3/4

2004-03-04 17:30:00
One Union Square Boardroom 600 University, First Level Seattle, WA 98101

MIT Venture Lab

“So — You’re Starting a Company: Essential Elements of Business Planning”

March 4th, 2004

One Union Square Boardroom

600 University, First Level

Seattle, WA 98101

5:30 to 8:00pm

Speakers Craig Sherman, Partner, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati and Ross Ortega, founder and CEO, GraniteEdge Networks will reveal practical advice for opening the doors of venture capitalists and other funding sources, winning trust, building momentum, and reaching a successful investment decision.

A business plan is essential to obtaining financing. However, a carefully crafted and well written business plan or summary is more valuable than that—it can be a useful communication tool for attracting strategic partners, key employees, and “evangelizing” potential supporters. The plan improves your chance of success by identifying a strategy and all key assumptions. Importantly, it identifies market trends and explicitly calls out the bets that the company is making about the future. A business plan is the roadmap from an entrepreneur’s starting point to his/her vision.

Presentation topics will include the following and questions will be encouraged:

* The Funding Process Overview

* How VCs Read Executive Summaries

* The Five Minute Flow

o Business (What Do You Do?)

o Milestones (Have You Already Made a Difference?)

o Value Proposition (Do You Really Understand Their Pain?)

o Market Opportunity (Do Enough People Really Need This Product?)

o Competitive Advantage (Why Will They Buy From You?)

o Business Model (How Will You Make Money?)

o Vision (Will You Stay Ahead of the Curve?)

o Request (What Do You Need to Succeed?)

* Structuring the Venture

* Assembling the Board and Advisors

* Offering and Subscription Documents

* Practical Tips: Some Do’s and Don’ts

Craig Sherman

Craig Sherman is a partner at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, where he focuses on corporate and securities laws, representing companies, venture capital firms and investments banks in private placements and public offerings. Craig also has extensive experience in mergers and acquisitions, technology licensing, and domestic and international joint ventures.

Craig graduated cum laude from Harvard Law School in 1989, where he was articles editor of the Harvard Human Rights Yearbook. Craig received his A.B. (with honors) and M.A. from Stanford University in 1985 and earned a certificat d’etudes politiques from the Institut d’Etudes Politiques in Paris, France in 1983. He began private practice in 1989 with Davis Polk & Wardwell in New York and Paris and joined Perkins Coie in Seattle in January 1995. Craig joined Venture Law Group in December 1996 and was managing director of the Kirkland office from May 2000 until August 2002. Craig joined WSGR in August 2002.

Ross Ortega

Ross Ortega is a founder and CEO of GraniteEdge Networks. Previously he was a founder, President, and Chief Technology Officer of Consystant Design Technologies, Inc. Dr. Ortega received his Ph.D. from the Department of Computer Science at the University of Washington. His dissertation was entitled "Communication Synthesis and Interface Synthesis for Distributed Embedded Systems." He has a MSCS degree from the University of Washington and a BSEE degree from MIT. In 1998 and 1999 Dr. Ortega was Acting Assistant Professor at the University of Washington, Bothell in the Computing and Software Department.

Workshop Location:

One Union Square Boardroom, 600 University Street, Seattle, WA 98101

(Lower lobby under the escalator by Starbucks)

5:30 – 6:00 PM – Registration and Networking

6:00 – 8:00 PM – Presentation

Parking:
Covered parking is available in the Union Square building garage, accessible from 7th Avenue.
Tip: arrive after 5:00pm for their $6 evening rate.

Registration:
Seminar cost will be $25.00 per attendee or $75 for the whole series. In addition, the cost of parking for the evening is $6.00 after 5:00pm. Reservations may be arranged as follows:

– Register online at http://www.mitwa.org until 5:00 pm, March 3rd

– Phone registrations at (206) 283-9595 accepted until March 3rd at noon

– Onsite registration begins at 5:30pm March 4th , space permitting

– VISA, MasterCard and American Express are welcome

About MIT Venture Lab

The MIT Venture Lab provides valuable information and resources for entrepreneurs seeking capital for new business ventures. The lab is offered in two series, each three to five workshops. The goal of the workshops is to drill down into the most essential considerations of business plan writing, investor presentations and funding strategies.

About MIT Enterprise Forum of the Northwest
The MIT Enterprise Forum of the Northwest is a volunteer, non-profit organization that gives emerging technology-based companies the opportunity to present their strategies to panels of experts during a series of public forums. The Seattle chapter of the MIT Enterprise Forum is one of 24 worldwide chapters of the MIT Enterprise Forum, Inc. affiliated with the Alumni Association of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. All Events are open to anyone interested in growing or enhancing a business.

In an effort to keep the chapters connected and the volunteers informed, each year the Enterprise Forum headquarters produces three newsletters with information on Enterprise Forum programs, as well as articles of interest to entrepreneurs and Enterprise Forum members. The latest issue is now available online and can be found at: http://web.mit.edu/entforum/. You can also visit the archives of past Forum Focus issues with this link.

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